This is a pretty good, solid show considering a) it's '78 and b) it's the night before a marathon. They played surprisingly long and well for knowing they had an all-nighter ahead of them the next night. It's All Over Now in particular shows the good and the bad of '78 -- the bad being Keith's boring, predictable, percussive chording with his tired, old, monochromatic Yamaha electric piano, and the good being Jerry's solo that follows. Jerry wailed all over '78 because he had to -- Keith wasn't bringing it and Bob's attempts were amateurish.

The jamming meat of this show is Scarlet>Fire for sure. Again, Keith's contributions are limited, but Jerry is filling the air with rapid arpeggios and cadenzas during the Scarlet jam, then turning it up for Fire. It's a pretty standard rendition, meaning great. Playin > Shakedown is too short, though -- they could have skipped the "rockin'" opening of Miracle>Bertha>Good Lovin and spent more time on the jam material. Ollin Arageed is always nice. St. Stephen is fun, but they maxed out on that song on 1/22/78.

By the way, Keith lays down an Eleanor Rigby tease starting about 8:03 in Shakedown.

We were out visiting relatives in California for the holidays and my older cousins took me to the show, I just turned nine. I listened to it again, I may be looking and listening to it through rose colored glasses but it was just such a fun show and will always hold special place in my heart.

Best Bertha solo ever IMO. I love the way they start Scarlet Begonias, all taking turns and finishing each others sentences before heading full on into the song. That "game" as I call it really starts at the end of Good Lovin' so start it near the end of Good Lovin" to get the full effect. Had this on cassette back in the 80s. Glad to have a digital copy again.

Everybody who enjoys the Archive should donate as Wally Gator says below! BEST gddamn thing on the Internets. I am really grooving to Ollin here, just transcendent. CIAO

I've had a copy of this show since 1982,and every now and then I listen to it hoping to get what others get,but to no avail.The recording quality is fine (a few cuts/drop outs/patches) but the playing leaves me cold.Far too many mis-cues,the band never seem in sync,and nothing holds my attention.I'm glad that other people love this,but it's not for me.

Nice show i found recommended by a friend..Jerrys voice isnt strained like the night after,so vox are alright..Im always glad to hear a show where Donna sounds as good as she does here,she n Bobbys vox blend well,same with Jerry when she harmonises on Sugaree etc...I like the rock energy of good 78 shows,a year sadly overshadowed by her younger sister (77)..Good old Grateful Dead.

Pretty good stuff. Sounds like they were having fun. And like the long set list.

Firstly, who is "Clive" that Weir substitutes for "life" Jack Straw? Bob Weir is referring to Clive Davis the head of Arista Records with whom they had recently signed a contract with for the "Terrapin Station" & "Shakedown Street" albums. He was apparently in attendance here, but supposedly complained that they didn't play "any new" or was it "many" tunes! Oh, contraire, indeed they played five tunes from the "Shakedown Street" album alone and one from the Terrapin Station album!
It certainly isn't the only time I've heard Weir say the following in "Mexicali Blues" but not often "Everybody Polka" since the rhythm of that song is in a polka style. Check out the way Jerry really powerfully instrumental especially the final C chord of (as I am at this moment feeling the chills all over not just in my spine as I listen again now) definitely the greatest version I ever heard "Tennessee Jed". Absolutely unique, I never elsewhere quite heard him grab that chord like he does here!
This is the only time I ever saw "St. Stephen"! Despite my apparent bias this one is relatively if not absolutely unique if for no other reason than the fact that Garcia uses the envelope filter (save perhaps the next day at Winterland; although I watched that one too live I have to re-listen) in part of the instrumental progression in the fact that Garcia plays in the opposite direction in terms of ascending verses descending, unlike every other I can recall! Why and how do I know? (see below). This was the the very best ever performance of "Olin Arrageed" with Hamza El-Din. Superior even than any of the ones at Winterland, and even more so than the rather future dull performances! This monumental performance is not only well over 3 hours in with this 12 song 1st set (one of the three longest I ever saw) was tough to record without any cuts!. Mine was not perfect, although I got all the way through to the end, with Mathew Kelly on Harmonica etc., unlike even this here soundboard (not counting its patches) which ends all together going to another audience recording somewhere in "St. Stephen". For the encore, since the show was so long, I was forced to use a lesser quality grade of tape (see below), rather than all before on Maxell XLSII. And the encore "One More Saturday Night" isn't the best I've ever heard but it still it cooked!
I was recording from well in front of the board; I do recall I was ~10-20 feet in front of that a guy with the Nagra! I still remember it in color from having been looking at them through my binoculars, with my elbows each steadily planted on either side of my recorder strapped around my neck, with my microphones strapped one to each side of binoculars. (My J.V.C. KD2 (which I bought in the middle of the Winterland shows in October), with super ANRS noise reduction which alone is far better than Dolby B and at least comparable with but not compatible with Dolby C) I vigorously contend is better than the important to note still not yet been released for another =/< 4 months well known future as a common standard machine, namely the Sony D5 and later still, D5M. This is despite in being somewhat bigger in size giving it besides the results themselves which obviously are most important, in its use better metering in terms both of sight and control as an analogy but not exactly the same relational difference for example, the differences in readout/control (smooth or the lack there of) between the D6 vs. the D5 metering. Which turned out great!
Oh well, I hope who took my recording away from me several years later eventually came to appreciate what he had obtained, but I have strong doubts of that and suspect it may have been erased or trashed, boo-hoo! Regardless, of what was my great fortune for a while that turned rotten, I can assure you that this is highly recommended!

Augy
San Diego

Second set is excellent as advertised. While the first set has more ups and downs, there is some nice stuff there. Great jams and inventive playing from Jerry on Jack Straw, Passenger, Tennessee Jed. even promised land, which can be forumlaic has some twist to the typical jerry "scrub" crescendo

This version of Sugaree caught my ear the first time I heard it because it was just after I'd read that Garcia wrote "Franklin's Tower" around the "doo-da-doo-da-doo" part of Lou Reed's "Walk On the Wild Side. (In one of the Garcia bios)
And if you notice after the final solo in Sugaree, Jerry (I believe) plays the bass riff of "Wild Side" for a few measures. There are a few other versions that hint at it, but this is the most blatant that I've heard.
The same year as "Franklin's Tower", Lou put out an album called Sally Can't Dance that has a tune called "Charley's Girl" which rips off the same part of "Wild Side", but with very Lou-ish lyrics--a drag queen getting beat up or something.
I'm sure Lou was just tickled (not) to find out that the Dead had a song inspired by him.
And yet (here goes my spiel), the last Velvet Underground album (Loaded) and the first Lou Reed solo album (just called Lou Reed, and maybe out of print) both have moments that are very in step with what the Dead were doing at that time (1970-71). And, the Velvets, circa 69-70 were just as likely to do a 15-20 minute workout of a song, albeit with a stricter rhythm section and a lead guitarist with a slightly more limited vocabulary (in Dead terms, imagine if Weir had to solo for 12 minutes...)

Actually it was Clive Davis Bobby was referring to.

Great show all around. I can't add any more to the praise that's already here, but it's worth noting that this seems to be the first instance in which Bobby sings "we used to play for silver, now we play for Clive" in Jackstraw, referring to Clive Barnes of Arista Records. Wikipedia previously claimed that he started doing so in 1979 (I've since changed it).

So, that's kinda fun...for what it's worth... :-)

Listening to the jolly patter twixt tunes, it sounds like they were having the most fun in the world. Oh, do I envy them. To be on stage such as they were with absolutely no pressure -- that's when the GD were at their best. And Pauley Pavilion was one of the band's friendly confines.

The AUD of this show on the archives is also very good. This version, however, has more bass presence. My only criticism with the SBD is that it leaves out Bobby's guitar. The AUD accentuates Bobby's guitar and it's the definition of definition. Nonetheless, in the next set Bobby is omnipresent and it evens things out.

Every first set song is a chart topper, enthusiastically played. Great versions of Jack, TLEO, Loser, Stagger Lee, Passenger (except for the one clam they always leave for this song!), Tennessee (Jerry bends and bleeds that Wolf into man's best friend), Sugaree and Promised. At 3:46 into Promised, Jerry goes crazy. Near the end of his freak out he whacks it and the band whacks back and he's so surprised that he tries to cover and flops and then recapitulates. Oh, heavenly recovery!

Similarly, the second set is in and out perfection bumping and slamming us up against the walls.

Shakedown comes into it's own as if it were written for Westwood. The penultimate expression of this time and place captured in one great gasp.

The remaining is anticlimactic -- a repeating into eternity of a sound so spun that one can clearly understand why the band laid themselves out supine and were summarily "tired" the next night.

Truly they spent themselves divine on the night before the big Closing of Winterland blowout.

It is truly amazing that they were able to summons so much stamina, held in reserve, for the NYE celebration.

Second wind.

Great show...I think it's far better than the NYE show.

Pauley Pavilion was a good venue.

I remember during a break between songs, someone wandered in from offstage with a vile of cocaine asking if anyone in the band needed a lift. Bob smiled and mouthed "No, thanks", but Jerry did partake.

This show was after Grateful Dead had done a show in front of the Egyptian Pyramids and the local music must have had an affect on the band. During the drums, a singer clad in robes came on stage in robes and performed as you hear it here. I do remember Jerry to the left of the stage really getting into what was transpiring in front of him.

Just another great Grateful Dead show.

I WAS AT THIS SHOW I LOVED ALL THE PAULY SHOWS .
THAT I WENT TO
IT WAS AWESOME ,WHAT A GREAT VISET TO MY YOUNG YOUNG TEEN YEARS,THE MUSIC STILL MAKES ME SMILE SMILE SMILE

Big fan of this show. One of the better in this year in my opinion. I feel it deserves a 4 out of 5 as well, just because of the quality of this show.

Excellent "They Love Each Other" ..... sold my wife on this tune by browsing to this particular version ..... five stars.

Excellent show. Everyone is really on for most of it. Very tight, with a couple "out there" moments too. One of the real higlights of nov/dec '78. Loving the Playin'>Shakedown, as well as the St.Stephen and the wonderful magical music that preceeds it.

I enjoyed the show from start to finish. It was a non-stop energetic performance, especially the second set. I thought that they started out sort of slow in the first half.

I was really getting into the Ollin Arrageed, which I haven't heard very often (in fact, never until I started listening through the Archive.org).

The transition into Shakedown was very nice. I didn't have the set list in front of me, while listening, and thought, "Oh, man, are they going to?... yup, they did."

I'll give it a 4 star rating.

Several cuts (PITB most noticable), and the patches are a bit distracting. Good versions of Sugaree and They Love Each Other. The Saint Stephen is a nice little surprise and is laid back and rather slow in tempo. Still nice. Donna fits in well with the boys in this show. Sound = 3 Stars, show = 4 stars.

Internet Archive is probably the best thing that's happened since cassette tapes. I hope many of you are donating money to this blessed bundle of electrical connections.

man, that missing section really kills me. Great 2nd set run, though, and a solid Sugaree.

I'm just so happy this spot exists. It's been 2 years now that I've been downloading and streaming. I can check out 1978, 1972, 1985 -- and there is so much more to try. I'm enjoying everything. Yeah some is better that others, but it's still the dead and even when they're off -- they're still fun. thanks for all the uploads and I'll keep listening.

The review was for this night - It was in LA.The next night was SF - No way to get tickets.

Twas the night before New Years... So many roads from philly led to UCLA when the Winterland show was decided to be out of reach. About 8 of us ariving one at a time in LA. We all decided to lay back and just chill until about halfway through Jack Straw. Nice try.

Low stage, the band had no feet. They played like it was the night with no pressure. New years eve the next night HAD to be legendary, they were closing winterland! This night was just for fun. Lots of BIG smiles on Jerry.

The whole group of Egyptian hand clappers on stage was different. They were all dressed in blue robes. Clear as day in a foggy mind I remember Jerry laughing as he played some behind them going into the space. One of my top 5 live experiences because the music was just that excellent and the trips were sooo good !

Awesome show.. for years, I have said that I am a Terminal 23; that it is the perfect age 'cause you're old enough to be legal to do whatever you want and young enough not to give a rip. It suddenly dawned on me when I was in my mid-30's, that this show took was my 24th birthday. What a place to stop aging!!

First set, clean but average, though there is an above average Sugaree, and very nice Bertha. The second set is inspired. It's also longer than most second sets from this era. It's like they didn't want to stop playing. It's topped off with a mellow One More Saturday Night, with added harmonica.

I wonder what show the last reviewer was at. He said he was at UCLA, that they rolled into LA. But Winterland was in San Francisco's Filmore district, not LA. There's a UCSF, but nowhere near the Filmore District.

I don't know what "Llama" is. I don't know how it works . . but it sure has brought some of the true gems back to my life. this show and a few others are the cream of the crop.

the egyptian section is really nice . . .

exquisite in fact . . and it carries over into the space and St Stephen that follow. the "another man spills" jam in St. St is really fantastic.

good sound . . wish there weren't so many patches . . can't have everything.

this tape brought me such joy in high school i went to aprivate catholic school in nashville and back then being a dead head was not the trend but alas this tape (which i lost more than once) gave me such comfort chekout llrain i,m not the biggest bobby fan but you can feel his pain many a time i rewound this song looking for solace and tears it would indeed produce

I think this may be... Have always cherished this show for good reason - Enjoy this is the shit.

This show has the sickest intro to St. Stephen EVER!!! This show is definately a classic one to get! Great from start to finish!

but i guess compared to ther soundboards of 78 its a step below, its deffinetly not bad in fact to me it sounds better then 90% of the soundboards between 80-84

per usual,many fans are to oharsh on these great soundboards. I personally have been searching for this quality board of this great show for 20 years thanks again for all the hard work and the great tunes on this site. long live the llama!!

I'm only reviewing the 2nd set. I agree with another reviewer. Can you beat this 2nd set song list? Other than an Eyes encore this is as good as it gets. The Bertha>Good Lovin' has great energy. The Scarlet>Fire>Playin>Shakedown is SICK! Then, after a Hamza meltdown, they shred a St Stephen>NFA!!.............PAAAALEASE!

This is one of the better '78 shows for a multitude of reasons it has a range of emotions and fiery energy - forget abt the sound this gets a 5 for music alone...

Had a mint copy of this in 1983 1st or 2nd gen I lost have not seen it since tks LMA!

this show is awsome really rocking 2nd set

Donna put me back three deades w/ looks like rain; high energy from the beginning of the show really, everyone sounds giddy just to be there! Helluva continuous second set starting with I Need A Miracle on. Too many goosebump moments to go less than 4 stars, but there are about four audio blips I counted. Good show.

Poor Quality on this. Show is decent but nothing to do flips over.

Five stars seem easy these days.

the 2nd set of this show is SICK,SICK, SICK!!! Look at that set list. Not a slow song anywhere Non-stop partying!!
I Need A Miracle> Bertha> Good Lovin'; Scarlet Begonias> Fire On The Mountain; Playing In The Band> Shakedown Street> Drums> Ollin Arrageed> Space> St. Stephen> NFA> Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad> Around And Around

That's a crazy set of tunes!